Boilers move to 5-0 in TRAC-9; Geese, Wildcats win LTC openers

Friday

Jan 4, 2013 at 10:33 PMJan 4, 2013 at 10:35 PM

Boys high school basketball roundup

Mike Landis

Kewanee 62, Bureau Valley 53The Boilers remained unbeaten in the Three Rivers Conference with Friday night’s road win at Manlius.Kewanee prospered from the 3-point line in the opening quarter as Matt Gustafson drilled a pair of treys to put the visitors up 10-4. Dayton Ince and Ryan Hicks also added threes to extend the margin to 24-13.BV’s Frank Gebeck ended the quarter with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull the Storm within 24-17. Another BV trey at the buzzer, this time from Tommy Johnston, cut the Kewanee lead to 33-32 at the half.Parker Neuhalfen gave the Storm their first — and last — lead of the night 34-33 on a layup to start the third quarter. The Boilers responded with an 11-0 run, fueled by two Ince treys sandwiched around another Gustafson trey, to take command 44-34.Kewanee carried a 51-38 advantage into the final quarter. BV trimmed the margin to five in the final minute on a Neuhalfen bucket, but the Boilers sealed the win at the line. Kewanee was 9 of 11 from the line down the stretch, including 8 of 9 by Ince.Ince led all scorers with 20 points, followed by Gustafson with 13 and Hicks with 10. Gebeck led three BV players in double figures with 15 points, followed by Neuhalfen with 12 and Johnston with 11.Kewanee moves to 11-3 overall, while BV slips to 12-8 and 2-3 in the TRAC-9.Kewanee’s Riveters won the sophomore opener 54-49. Cody Goforth led Kewanee with 17 points and eight steals. Zach Brown added 10 points and six rebounds.Josh Mead had 13 points for BV, while Payton Shipp added 10 points and 13 rebounds. The Riveters are 7-6 and 4-1 conference, while BV slips to 6-6 and 2-3 in the TRAC-9.

Wethersfield 71, West Central 60The Flying Geese opened the Lincoln Trail Conference schedule with a key road win at Biggsville.Trevor Lay had a huge night for the Geese, scoring 30 points and dishing six assists.Wethersfield raced to a 35-22 lead at the half, but the Heat stormed back with a 23-11 run in the third frame to pull within 46-45The Geese held off the hosts at the free-throw line, drilling 14 of 17 attempts in the fourth quarter, including 6 of 6 from Lay and 4 of 4 from Tyler Litton.Colin Rothzen topped West Central with 21 points, followed by Trey Goff with 15 and Darren Webb with 10.Wethersfield also prevailed in the fresh-soph opener, 44-17. The F-S Geese are 7-4 overall.

Galva 57, Mercer County 55Dexter Ingels drilled two free throws in the closing seconds to give the Wildcats the conference-opening road win at Aledo Friday night.Ingels and Reece Hoxworth topped the Wildcats, now 11-2 overall, with 20 points each.Mercer County won the fresh-soph game 49-45 in two overtimes.

Stark County 51, United 34The Rebels improved to 2-0 in the Lincoln Trail Conference with Friday night’s road win at United.Jake Berchtold led Stark County with 21 points, followed by Tanner King with 13.Stark County won the fresh-soph opener 34-23.